Please read the abstract in the section, 00front, of this document / Thesis (PhD (Augmentative and Alternative Communication))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / unrestricted

That odors play a significant role in subhuman intraspecies communication is a generally accepted fact explained in part by the production and reception of species specific pheromones. Recently the effects of human produced odors on human communication have received research attention, particularly in the communication of such biological phenomena as menstruation onset and gender assignment. Again pheromones have been posited as the explanatory mechanism. Whether a pheromone-like odor cued process exists in the communication of human emotions is unknown, though a number of anecdotal accounts of odor-emotion interactions suggest that such may be the case. It was the purpose of the present study to investigate a possible odor-emotion interaction by determining whether humans could differentially detect other humans' odor collected under varying emotional conditions.

Orientador: Jáima Pinheiro de Oliveira / Banca: Eduardo José Manzini / Banca: Manoel Osmar Seabra Júnior / Resumo: A linguagem e a comunicação em pessoas com surdocegueira pré-linguística são a base de todo o processo de desenvolvimento desses sujeitos e, sem dúvida, trata-se de uma das maiores dificuldades para os profissionais que os assistem. Dentro desse contexto, esta pesquisa, de abordagem qualitativa do tipo descritivo, teve como objetivo identificar, na perspectiva de profissionais que atuaram com um sujeito com surdocegueira pré-linguística, aspectos da comunicação utilizados em contextos diferentes de atendimento. Participaram do estudo uma pedagoga de um centro de especialidades da área da saúde, uma fonoaudióloga de um centro de equoterapia e os professores das seguintes áreas e/ou setores de atuação: Atendimento Educacional Especializado, classe comum, Educação Física, Arte e uma agente educacional de uma escola de ensino regular. A pesquisa foi realizada nos locais de atuação profissional dos respectivos participantes, por meio de entrevista semiestruturada, tendo como apoio um roteiro. Os dados foram tratados a partir de análise de conteúdo, tendo como base a temática da comunicação. As categorias estabelecidas foram: primeiras tentativas de comunicação; desenvolvimento de conceitos; comunicação multimodal; linguagem receptiva; e linguagem expressiva. Inicialmente, foram apresentados os resultados sobre considerações gerais desses profissionais que auxiliaram na discussão. Posteriormente, foram expostos e discutidos os resultados das categorias, os quais indicaram que: as p... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Language and communication in people with pre-linguistic deafblindness are the basis of the entire development process of these subjects, and undoubtedly it is one of the greatest difficulties for the professionals who assist them. Within this context, this research, with a qualitative approach of the descriptive type, aimed to identify from the perspective of professionals who worked with one subject with pre-linguistic deafblindness, aspects of communication used in different contexts of services performed. Were part of this study, a pedagogue from a health specialty care center, a speech therapist from a horseback riding therapy center and teachers from the following areas and / or sectors of action: Specialized Educational Assistance, common class, Physical Education, Art and an educational agent of a regular school. The research was carried out in the places of professional performance of the respective participants, through a semi-structured interview, having as support a script. The data were treated based on content analysis, and had as a base the thematic of communication. The established categories were: first attempts at communication; development of concepts; multimodal communication; receptive language; and expressive language. Initially, the results were presented on the general considerations of these professionals that helped the discussion. Subsequently, the results of the categories were exposed and discussed, which indicated that: the professionals first attempts to communicate with the subject happened through a link established, reference objects, attempts to introduce isolated signals, tactical insinuations and difficulties of interpretation in communicative situations. In relation to the development of concepts, the main strategies indicated by the participants ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Prepositions are not only important in functional syntax; they also relate meanings associated with the concepts of place and time (Washington & Naremore, 1978). Furthermore, prepositions are critical in such everyday activities as producing and comprehending directions, using maps and diagrams, and in the fields of mathematics and music (Cox & Richardson, 1985). Inefficient use or misuse of prepositional spatial terms may hinder a child's progress in many areas. Expressive acquisition of function words, which include prepositions, has been described as significantly delayed in the hearing impaired populations (Cooper & Rosenstein, 1966). The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative preposition analysis between hearing impaired children using two different modes of communication. The question this researcher sought to answer was: Do 54 severely-to-profoundly hearing impaired children in this study using total communication differ in the expressive acquisition of 17 locative and directional prepositions from 35 hearing impaired children in a previous study (Warlick, 1983) using oral/aural communication?

For over a quarter of a century a difference of opinion has existed regarding the relative value of auditory training in the education of the deaf child. The opponents have insisted that in most deaf children there is little or no residual hearing on which to use acoustic stimulation. The proponents have insisted that there are extremely few deaf children who do not have some residual hearing which could be stimulated to promote better speech, to increase speech perception, and to advance better mental health. The purpose of this study has been (1) to investigate (a) the development of speech perception by the use of acoustic stimulation in schools for the deaf, and (b) the general tendency toward the use of the acoustic method in the schools for the deaf; and, (2) to determine whether or not auditory training has a definite place as an educational tool in the education of deaf children.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to develop a course outline to begin the teaching of the American Sign Language at the Language Training Mission in Provo, Utah. Presently there is no program offered to train missionaries to teach the eight discussions to the hearing impaired who use sign language and fingerspelling to communicate. This study attempts to provide such a course outline that can later be developed into a complete training program.To establish a criterion for this course, existing theories and curriculum guides for teaching sign language were reviewed and summarized. A survey for training interpreters, particularly in the religious setting, was made and essential concepts were extracted. The course curriculum used at the Language Training Mission was outlined and used as a guide for this course.

Conversational skills training was administered to two developmentally delayed male residents of a board and care home to increase each subject's use of encouraging comments and on-topic questions during conversations with another resident. The effects of the skills training package of instructions, behavior rehearsal, modeling, and feedback were assessed in a multiple-baseline design across the behaviors of encouraging comments and on-topic questions. Training was successful in that each subject increased his use of both target conversational behaviors above criterion level. The two subjects who received training were also assessed to see if the conversational behavior generalized to a third subject. This subject was also an adult, developmentally delayed male resident of the home. The two target behaviors generalized to the third subject during a single follow-up observation session. In addition, follow-up assessments for the two trained subjects indicated that each subject's increased use of encouraging comments and on-topic questions in conversation persisted over a one week period. The conversational skills training also resulted in an improvement in their social speech. Four judges, blind with respect to training conditions and subjects, subjectively rated the conversational behavior of each of the subjects on a bi-polar (1 = poor, 10 = excellent) rating scale while listening to pre-training and post-training tapes. All four judges rated each of the trained subjects as a better conversationalist after training.

There is a need to identify a specific test to assess one's Simultaneous Communication skills (a combination of Sign Language with the use of spoken English). The Simultaneous Communication Evaluation and the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview were examined to compare and to determine the reliability and validity for the latter. The Illinois Course Evaluation Questionnaire was used as an independent variable. Multitrait-multimethod methodology (Campbell and Fiske, 1959) was used to examine construct validity of the two methods of assessing the twenty-eight subjects' communication skills, as well as to show their reliability. The Illinois Course Evaluation Questionnaire was used as an observation tool to obtain dichotomized scores used to measure subjects' performance in the classroom as compared with the two methods of assessing the subjects' signing skills. Based on the findings of this research, the following conclusions seem justified. A. The Receptive portion of the Simultaneous Communication Evaluation generally showed a weak relationship to the other tests with the exception of the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview's retest, with which it showed only a moderate relationship. This indicates that the Receptive portion may not be a valid way of assessing Sign Language competency. B. Since the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview's test-retest and the inter-rater reliability indicators are moderately high, with their levels of significance being lower than .05, this method of testing may be regarded as an at least moderately reliable means of assessing the faculty members' skills in the use of Simultaneous Communication. C. The correlations for the Simultaneous Communication Evaluation and the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview's test and retest are .8058 and .5477 respectively. The Illinois Course Evaluation Questionnaire, in general, showed negative correlations with the first two tests with the probability of error being higher than the acceptable .05. One may conclude from this that there is no relationship between the ability to teach and the ability to use Simultaneous Communication. It is anticipated that the outcome of this study will have an impact on various programs and agencies that provide educational and/or social services to the hearing impaired in the United States. At present there is no established, standardized method of evaluating professionals Sign Language skills and this study may well set a precedent in this area. / Ed. D.